Amahlati Municipality responsible for delays in completing major road works

I have submitted questions to the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Fikile Xasa, after the department alleged that the tarring and upgrading of the Lower Kologha Road in Stutterheim is 81% complete. This road is an accident that is waiting to happen.

According to responses from the MEC, this road is 81% complete and only requires the final layer of tar. An oversight inspection of the project tells a different story.

This is what R4.3 million of road works look like in the Eastern Cape:

The MEC further stated that the project was on hold due to poor performance by the contractor as well as financial difficulties since early 2017. The Amahlati Municipality finally terminated the contract in November 2017, a year after the project was placed on hold. No work has been done on this road since then and the R 4.3 million that was already spent on this road has gone down the drain, all at the expense of ratepayers. There is absolutely no value for money.

People travelling on the Lower Kologha Road should have been travelling on a world class, tarred road by November 2016 however, motorists travelling on this route are still dodging potholes and dangerous incomplete sections of the road while no work is being done on this route. A project that was supposed to be completed in 22 weeks is still incomplete after 96 weeks.

It is clear that the municipality as well as the department have a complete disregard for the communities need for a safe and reliable roads network. The fact that this project is still incomplete and the road has been left to deteriorate is indicative of a government that has lost touch with the people. It is a symptom of complete maladministration.

The Democratic Alliance believes that people of Amahlati Municipality deserve better service and value for money. The Democratic Alliance remains the only real alternative party which can deliver quality services to people based on the principles of good governance, accountability and transparency. — Vicky Knoetze MPL, Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.